She was there with her two best friends. He was there with his homeboys. They met at a restaurant on the beach at Turks and Caicos. The sky turned orange. When the boat horn blew, they did not want the trip to end.

He prayed for her in the dark. She begged to God for him to let her go. Ky'leigh Ace thought loving a man like Julian "Toro" Cortez was just part of growing up in the Southside. But when he got locked up, she found out the truth: being in love with a gang member was one thing-raising his daughter alone was another. Six years later, he's back. Fresh out. Full of pain, pride, and poison. But Ky has changed. She's colder now. Stronger. Smarter. And she's been keeping Jurnee away from the streets. But Julian doesn't play when it comes to his daughter. Or Ky. In the world they come from, love ain't sweet-it's war. And every night, somebody's out there whispering a Lover's Prayer just to survive it.

-𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

Analeia Noelle moves from Boston, MA, to Phoenix, AZ, and crosses paths with a mysterious guy. Will this new chapter lead to love? heartbreak? Read to find out!

Sienna Carvalho is the wildest and most mischievous of the Carvalho sisters-a woman who thrives on danger, adrenaline, and outsmarting powerful men. Known across Europe's underworld as a ghostlike thief with a taste for priceless jewels, Sienna's latest heist crosses a line even she didn't mean to: stealing a billionaire's $2.5-billion diamond necklace during a royal auction. But what she doesn't realize is that the necklace belongs to Kai Reyes, an elusive and dangerous man-both a world-class hacker and a trained sniper with ties to covert intelligence and black-market tech. Cold, calculating, and impossible to find, Kai tracks her down within days, breaking through every fake identity she's ever created. When he finally corners her, instead of turning her in, he makes her an offer: help him expose the international syndicate that financed the auction and survive long enough to steal something far more valuable. What begins as a reluctant partnership soon spirals into a web of danger, passion, and obsession. Sienna finds herself torn between her desire for freedom and the magnetic pull of the man who should have been her greatest enemy. As they navigate assassins, double-crosses, and a world of glittering deceit, one thing becomes clear: the thief and the hunter are more alike than either will admit.

"only you mama, always been you."

Melody is casually browsing Twitter one day when she receives an unexpected message request from a man named Joseph. Charming and undeniably handsome, he quickly captures her attention. After weeks of constant conversation, the two begin to form a deep connection, one that develops faster than either of them expected. As time passes, their whirlwind romance begins to face challenges. Just when Melody feels certain about what they have, an even bigger surprise emerges, one that could either strengthen their bond or tear it apart.

"yeah? i bet you get a lot of girls" "ɪ ᴅᴏ , ɴᴜɴ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴀᴍɪ"

Tasha Clarke is twenty-seven and stuck. What was meant to be a temporary job at a golf club has stretched into years of serving drinks, forcing smiles, and enduring the leers of men twice her age. With her best friend Nyla's wedding on the horizon, Tasha can't help but feel left behind. Nyla has love, stability, and a future. Tasha has routine and a gnawing hunger for something more-something dangerous enough to make her feel alive again. Across the ocean, 30 year-old, Ignacio Montoya prepares to step into Seattle for the first time in years. His empire stretches across continents, claiming cities like New York, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles in blood and power. But Seattle remains unscarred-a weakness he intends to remedy. On the surface, Ignacio comes as a best man, to toast the wedding of his oldest friend. Beneath the tailored suit, however, lies a predator's intent. He sees Seattle not as a city of celebration, but as prey. Ignacio Montoya is a storm-silent until he breaks, relentless once he does. While Tasha aches for change and Ignacio charts his conquest, fate coils their paths together. What begins as a wedding celebration will unravel into something far more dangerous: a collision of hunger and power, yearning and control. When the storm finally reaches her, Tasha Clarke's life-and Seattle itself-will never be the same.

It was the summer of '93, and the weather was almost hotter than the location. But then again, what could be hotter than hell? The Ninth! Some would assume that the steam which rose from the broken sidewalks in front of the brick apartment building justified the neighbor hood's nickname, the Ninth Circle of Hell. The heat wave however, had nothing to do with why people associated Messalina projects with Dante's Inferno. No, that honor went to the infestation of dealers, crack heads, boosters, and hoes. Dope boys handled their business like it was legal, and everyone learned to look the other way. If they didn't learn, then they never got the chance to look again. Life in the ninth operated by the code of the wild, predators ate and prey got eaten. The drug dealers sat on the top of chain. Boosters, strippers and hoes fell somewhere in the middle, while the crack heads and the civilians clung to the last wrung. Everyone knew their assigned roles and no one ever deviated from the script. Cleopatra James, an unremarkable thirteen year old girl, understood better than anyone, her dictated place in the procession. But that didn't mean she accepted the role she'd been given to play.